Should You Dropship High Ticket Products? Experts Weigh In

In the world of dropshipping, a lot of energy is focused on relatively small, low-cost items that can be purchased at wholesale prices and sold for a tidy profit. But what about dropshippers who are interested in selling higher value products? Is selling high-ticket products a good call for your dropshipping store?

Generally, the answer is no. There are a few reasons why going for high-ticket products in your dropshipping store is often a mistake, which we’ll cover later in this post, but in general the problem with high-ticket dropshipping is that it goes against all of the best benefits of dropshipping itself. 

One of the best parts about dropshipping is that it allows you to start and run a store with little to no upfront investment. You can start selling products without investing heavily in marketing, upfront purchases, and setting up your online store.

But selling to high price-point buyers with high ticket products is different. You’ll need to invest huge capital in marketing to attract them, not to mention the fact that high ticket products are expensive by nature.

In this article, we’ll explore in detail some of the insider tips when it comes to high ticket dropshipping, including

• What is a high ticket product?
• How to find high ticket products if you decide to go that route
• The best categories for high ticket products
• Expert advice on whether to get into high ticket dropshipping
• Drawbacks of selling high-value products
• How to sell high value products in your store

What is a High Ticket Product?

In general, a high ticket product is any high-end priced product that you may sell in your dropshipping store. There’s no official ‘cutoff,’ but generally any single item worth more than $500 is considered a high ticket product. Examples of common high ticket products include sofas, furniture, industrial equipment, expensive electronics, and more. If you want to get a sense for what categories of high-ticket products are common, consider what you would see walking around an IKEA showroom.

Why do dropshippers often get enticed by high ticket products? Usually it’s because they like the idea of getting a huge profit off each individual item. They think, ‘I would have to sell 100 units of this smaller product to make the same profit I could make from selling just a couple units of this larger one.’

However, this mindset is often a trap— selling high-ticket products isn’t as simple as it seems, and the investment of time, effort, and money involved often negates any profit you might be expecting.

If you’re considering adding high-ticket products in your Shopify store or other dropshipping store, there are a lot of things to consider first.

How to Find Legitimate High Ticket Dropshipping Products

First off, you need to start with proper product research to find the right products. Unfortunately, the internet is littered with bogus suppliers who sell cheap knock-offs and poorly made items, and even many of those that do offer quality products do so at the cost of poor service, extremely slow shipping, and undependable product availability.

So how do you find the right suppliers?

At Sell the Trend, we make it easy with our industry-leading supplier database. Our AI-powered search function helps dropshippers comb through over 7 million products in over 80 niches, adding them to stores with just one click. Meanwhile, we connect dropshippers with leading names like Aliexpress and CJDropshipping to provide access to the fastest, most dependable, and most reasonably priced suppliers available.

But which categories are best when it comes to high ticket products?

The Best High Ticket Product Categories

If you are going to go into selling high-ticket products, there are some categories that are more effective than others.

• Electronics
• Outdoor supplies
• Home decor
• Furniture
• Automotive accessories
• Children’s Playsets
• Lawn & Garden
• Sports
• Kitchen Supplies

Is High Ticket Dropshipping a Good Idea?

Our opinion is that in general, high ticket dropshipping will not result in the kinds of margins and profitability that dropshipping can be capable of delivering. The startup costs, marketing costs, and overall investment are all too high— particularly when you take into account the risk that one of the products or categories you select may not pan out. With standard dropshipping, that risk is far lower because you’ve invested much less in each individual category or niche.

The Drawbacks of Dropshipping HIgh-Ticket Products

Overall, dropshipping high-ticket products has a few significant drawbacks that you should absolutely consider before diving in.

Higher Start-Up Costs

When it comes to selling low value items through your dropshipping store, you have fewer marketing barriers to overcome. People want something that fits their needs, that’s going to work, that’s inexpensive, and that will arrive when they need it. They don’t need too much convincing to pick you over someone else.

When it comes to high ticket products, you’re going to need to do a lot more convincing— and that means marketing spend. You’ll need to invest more in making the product look good, in making your store look high-end to match the product, and in costly tasks like product photography, copywriting, and more. For the many people who get into dropshipping for the low barrier of entry, this goes against the entire point.

Increased Competition

Consider two different shopping experiences. In the first scenario, one of your mixing spoons breaks. You need a new mixing spoon, so you head online and search ‘mixing spoons.’ You’re not a professional chef, and many mixing spoons are basically the same, so you’ll probably click on one of the first options you see and, if the price is right, you’ll order it. If it’s poor quality or you don’t like it, no big deal— you can either return it or just absorb the few dollars you spent and order a different one.

Now consider a second scenario— buying a new sofa. This is a huge investment costing $1,000 or more. Not only that, but it’s not just about utility— you want to buy something that fits your style, your existing decor, and that will last you a long time. If you choose wrong, returning the sofa is no easy feat. You want to get it right, so you visit multiple stores, and you’re much more likely to go with a brand name you recognize and trust because the risk of making the wrong choice is much higher.

What does this all mean for you as a seller? It means that by the time a potential customer checks out your sofa, or whatever high ticket product they may be shopping for, they’ve probably already seen dozens more at other stores— and you have to convince them to choose you. This is a major hurdle to overcome.

Longer Sales Funnel

Most dropshippers that are successful are able to sell a variety of items quickly— it’s the reason we’ve built 1-click functionality for adding products to your store in Sell the Trend. When a certain type of product starts trending, you want to be able to quickly add it to your store and start selling.

High ticket products make this difficult. People take longer to shop for them, trends move slowly, and a single product is less likely to suddenly take-off, providing you with a major stream of income. After all, most successful dropshipping stores make the majority of their profits from just a handful of high-selling items.

Is High Ticket Dropshipping Suitable for Experienced Dropshippers?

You may be thinking, ‘Sure, all this is good advice for beginner dropshippers that don’t know what they’re doing. But I’m experienced. I can handle high ticket products, no problem.’

Is it possible for experienced dropshippers to succeed selling higher priced items? Sure. It’s just extraordinarily difficult. You need to build more trust in potential buyers, and that means longer sales funnels and higher marketing costs. In the end, the experience of selling high-ticket products can quickly move you away from all the things that probably attracted you to dropshipping in the first place. If you’re willing to accept those changes, you may find success. But it’s far from guaranteed, even for expert dropshippers who know the business well.

How to Sell High Ticket Products

Overall, deciding to sell high ticket products will come down to a series of factors that will determine your success or failure.

• Picking the right products from the right suppliers
• Recognizing trends as they happen
• Marketing your high ticket products effectively with as little upfront costs as possible
• Building more legitimacy and trust in your store

Fortunately, Sell the Trend can help with all of these. Our end-to-end dropshipping platform is the best way to find the right products from the best suppliers, reach your target customers, automate your business for maximum ROI, and more.

Ready to get started? Try Sell the Trend today.